


bone apple teeth

by chanscrown



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Food, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Implied Sexual Content, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun Being Dumb, Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung is Whipped, M/M, Minor Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:54:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27655099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chanscrown/pseuds/chanscrown
Summary: in a world where you can taste whatever your soulmate is eating or drinking at the moment, jaehyun's soulmate has to suffer the wrath of jaehyun's newfound hobby of creating terrible food combinations after jaehyun feels that his soulmate's palate could use a boost of creativity.spoiler alert: jaehyun accidentally gives himself food poisoning.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung
Comments: 8
Kudos: 262
Collections: Challenge #3 — soulmates





	bone apple teeth

**Author's Note:**

> dojae soulmates au but make it slightly ~ c r a c k e d ~ bc the writer's just as cracked as they are too

Jung Jaehyun has a couple of questions for the ones who made the idea of soulmates exist.

For starters, he’d like to know who was the genius who thought mixing romance with taste should be the grand matching system. Jaehyun wonders why no one spoke out _against_ this idea when it was first introduced.

He’s sure at the time they might’ve thought it was great, but when you think about it from a more… _romantic_ standpoint, does Jaehyun really want to taste his partner eating him out? 

Not really.

That won’t happen after he meets his beloved soulmate, in which your taste buds will return to normal the day the two of you touch, but it’s still a disturbing thing to ponder about.

This brings us to his second question- why make someone share the same taste of food their soulmates have until they eventually meet? The moment _after_ they touch, their tastebuds return to “normal” and won’t have to taste what their soulmate’s having for the rest of their lives?

What’s the point of having those events leading up to _that_?

Soulmates are complicated, including whoever Jaehyun’s destined to be with.

Which brings us to now- him bitterly tasting his soulmate’s caramel coffee in the middle of his English lecture and despising how it burns the back of his throat.

More specifically, he hates his soulmate’s _taste in food_.

His soulmate’s taste isn’t bad, per se, but in Jaehyun’s opinion, it’s becoming a repetitive pattern.

Jaehyun's endured his soulmate's taste buds for a couple of years now, and he can confidently define his soulmate's taste as a mixture of basic and sophistication.

That's not supposed to be wrong, of course, as he respects his soulmate's taste wholeheartedly.

...It's just getting old with the same routine: caramel coffee, something plain like a salad or bagel with cream cheese, fruit, etcetera.

Maybe his soulmate's a picky eater and needs guidance on what else to try next.

Jaehyun should help them.

That's when the light bulb tingles in front of him.

Jaehyun should make some new food combinations; that way, his potential soulmate gets a wide array of different tastes from different foods!

Jaehyun smiles to himself smugly. He's such a good soulmate, thinking about the wellbeing of his potential future.

He hopes his soulmate isn't some royal jerk Prince from England or anything high-class... although Jaehyun would be down for his soulmate to spend on him any day.

As caramel coffee continues to partially satisfy his hungry taste buds in the middle of his lecture, Jaehyun's mind wanders to what combinations he could do to save his soulmate's dreadful food palate.  
  


* * *

  
When he comes home from class that day, Jaehyun enthusiastically tells his roommate slash best friend, Johnny Suh about his food combination idea, who's _immediately_ on board.

It first starts with putting ketchup in oatmeal, and things slowly begin to escalate into Hell from there.

Jaehyun and Johnny start dipping apples in salsa, followed by eating cereal with clam chowder, creating broccoli pizza with Alfredo sauce (please don't ask,) Nutella with chicken-flavored ramen, and so forth.

What's equally as scary as those combinations are how much Jaehyun _actually_ enjoys them.

While Jaehyun still enjoys the chemical disasters they create, Johnny eventually taps out after nearly puking over a mixture of milk and green beans, leaving the rising food star to create more exotic food combinations by himself.

“Johnny, please tell me you two aren’t still making hell for whoever Jaehyun’s soulmate is,” Lee Taeyong, Johnny’s soulmate-slash-boyfriend, groans during the next time he visits their apartment.

Johnny puts his hands up in surrender. “Babe, I promise you that _I_ quit. I can’t say the same about Jae, though,” he points out Jaehyun’s recent creation currently on-display in a large mason jar.

The moment Taeyong looks at said mason jar is when he makes a loud hurling noise.

Jaehyun, witnessing the other's reaction to said jar, groans.

"Oh, come on, Taeyong! It looks awesome!"

“It looks like _poison,_ ” Taeyong spats in disgust, "What is that supposed to be anyways?"

Jaehyun grins. "I'm glad you asked: presenting to the world for the very first time, Jaehyun's Seven-Layer Bean Dip Spectacular Surprise!"

"Bean dip is _not_ supposed to look like that, bro... what did you even put in it?" Johnny points out cautiously, although still in-support of his best friend's creativity.

"Well, I'm glad you asked!" Jaehyun introduces, "We have refried beans- hence, bean dip- sour cream, blue cheese-"

"You put blue cheese in there? That's disgusting!"

"Taeyong, I'm not finished yet!" Jaehyun exclaims, "Anyways, blue cheese, vanilla yogurt with raisins, pickles, uh... I think... tomato sauce? I'm not sure, maybe. And lettuce... so, what do you two think?"

Johnny and Taeyong are silent. 

"Again, Jung Jaehyun," Taeyong pinches his nose in stress from this conversation, "You created poison."

Jaehyun disagrees, opening the brand new tortilla chip bag he bought earlier. "No, I didn't! I'm starting a food revolution, and trust me when I say that it's _not_ poison!" he tells them before pulling out a large chip and dipping it into the mason jar. Jaehyun ignores Taeyong's disgusted groans as he bites into it.

"Taeyong, it's not bad, honestly. It's fine, trust me!"

"It's _poison_ , Jaehyun. I feel sorry for whoever your soulmate is."

Jaehyun rolls his eyes, helping himself to a double-dip opportunity. "I'm _helping_ my soulmate, alright? This is not poison, and it will never be!"  
  


* * *

  
It turns out, Jaehyun’s seven-layer bean dip _is_ poison and can cause food poisoning.

It doesn't come off as a shock to anyone (including Taeyong, who tells Jaehyun, "I told you so" through a FaceTime call with Johnny outside Jaehyun's bathroom). Still, it forces the food aficionado to waste his entire day in the toilet and continuously empty all of his contents on the tank.

During what was about his tenth trip to the bathroom that day, while performing his monologue on how he currently hates his life and wants this stomach pain to be over, Jaehyun decides to make an executive decision and take a pause on the food combinations until further notice.

As he flushes the toilet again, Jaehyun feels his stomach grumble at him. Although he knows that it won't be long until whatever he's going to eat is just going to be disposed of out of him in an hour or two, he makes his way out to the kitchen.

However, as he passes the living room, he quickly does a double-take when he sees Johnny and someone he's never seen before sitting at the coffee table.

Said someone is really cute, by the way.

“Oh hey, Jae,” Johnny waves before introducing the stranger. “This is Doyoung. We’re partners in a poly-sci group project.”

“But we’re the only two who’ve been pulling their weight,” Doyoung snickers, and Johnny agrees wholeheartedly with a laugh.

So Johnny's project partner is handsome _and_ funny.

Cool.

Jaehyun should leave before he does anything embarrassing in front of Doyoung that ruins his credibility for the rest of the life or until Doyoung and Johnny's project is over.

"Nice meeting you," Jaehyun greets before making a beeline straight to the kitchen. When he arrives and sees the mason jar staring back at him, Jaehyun makes _another_ executive decision to throw it in the trash immediately.

 _Now to find something suitable_ _that isn't poison_ , he grumbles as he starts exploring around.

“Hey, Johnny, do you have any water by any chance? My throat is kinda dry.” Jaehyun hears Doyoung ask from the living room as he continues to dig through the pantry for an appropriate snack.

“Uh, I’m not sure…. We have juice, though? Feel free to rummage through our fridge.”

“Thanks,” Jaehyun hears Doyoung say as he pulls out an open jar of crunchy peanut butter from the cabinet, turning to the fridge to see what would work with said peanut butter.

Just as he opens, the refrigerator is when Doyoung arrives, and the two share a small nod.

“Uh,” Jaehyun gestures to the open fridge, “You can go first.”

Jaehyun tries not to blush at how Doyoung smiles at him earnestly. 

“Thanks,” he tells him as he starts to reach into their fridge, pulling out a half-empty gallon of lemonade shortly after.

"Is it cool if I-?" Doyoung asks, but Jaehyun waves his hand.

"Go ahead, cups are near the paper towels, by the way," he points out to the guest, and Doyoung thanks him once again.

Jaehyun's eyes wander around the open fridge for a moment before catching a glimpse of the sizeable leftover pickle jar in the back and grabbing it enthusiastically.

Afterward, he closes the fridge, immediately witnessing Doyoung's eyes on him as the other carefully pours the lemonade into the red solo cup.

"Pickles and peanut butter?" Doyoung asks, confusion laced in his voice.

Jaehyun nods. "Yup, they're pretty good, not going to lie."

Doyoung still looks puzzled but shrugs it off.

"Hey man, that's your taste, I don't judge," he tells him as he finishes pouring the rest of the lemonade into his cup, tossing the empty gallon in the trash can behind him.

Jaehyun shares another smile with the other as he scoops up the crunchy spread with the pickle, ignoring the juice dripping inside the peanut butter jar as he caps it off afterward and takes a large bite out of his latest combination.

The moment the pickle-peanut-butter bite goes down his throat, Jaehyun sees Doyoung scrunch his nose in disgust before starting to cough violently, holding onto the counter for support.

"Oh, shoot, Doyoung!" Jaehyun panics, "Here, drink your lemonade!"  
  


Doyoung swallows air before nodding, grabbing his cup from the counter, and quickly downing the lemonade in one go.

But as Jaehyun watches Doyoung helplessly wash out whatever just happened with their leftover lemonade, Jaehyun begins to feel a sharp taste in his throat that quickly turns sour.

Not from the pickles, though... but something that tastes like... _lemons_?

"Why am I tasting lemons?" Jaehyun says out loud.

That's when he looks at Doyoung in shock.

And Doyoung makes eye contact with him, too, looking just as surprised as he is.

"Uh, Doyoung?" 

"Yes, Jaehyun?" the other hesitates.

"Did you... taste anything, by any chance?"

Doyoung slowly nods.

"Was it... peanut butter?"

He nods again.

"And..."

"Pickles?" Doyoung shortly finishes for him.

 _Oh my god, Johnny's project partner is my soulmate._ Jaehyun thinks in shock as his brain continues to short-circuit for him.

"Well, that explains the... special food choices," Doyoung muses to himself.

_Oh my god, I've been unleashing Hell (or Heaven?) for my soulmate._

The other gestures to both of their hands. 

_Oh my god, we're going to see if we're soulmates._

"Jaehyun, is it okay if I try something?" Doyoung asks, slowly getting closer to the other.

Jaehyun nods.

"Yes," he breathes.

As the two of them make eye contact with each other, Doyoung slowly grabs Jaehyun's hands, in which Jaehyun can immediately feel a brand new spark of energy with just one touch that already confirms its connection.

That's when Doyoung cups his hands to Jaehyun's face and leans in.

Jaehyun leans in as well, and soon there's a jolt of energy that lights up the moment their lips touch. Jaehyun can't help but sigh into the kiss as Doyoung feels like warmth and homeliness to him.

It's perfect.

The two of them slowly release afterward, smiles still on their faces when looking at each other. 

"Jaehyun," Doyoung later says in a severe tone, "Now that we're soulmates, answer me this." 

"Yes, of course, Doyoung," Jaehyun nods.

"What type of abomination did you create the other day that consisted of blue cheese and plain yogurt as well as foods that shouldn't go together?"

Jaehyun's ears turn red from the question, turning away from the other.

"Uh-" he falters, "My... bean dip."

Doyoung frowns. "What type of bean dip has those types of foods in there?"

"Mine?" Jaehyun squeaked, his blush and embarrassment rising to his entire face.

Doyoung's frown softens after seeing how adorable his soulmate looked when embarrassed.

"Well, I'll admit that your food palate did give my taste buds a trip these past couple of weeks," he grins at the other one.

Jaehyun looks at the other one in surprise when hearing that.

"Really?"

Doyoung nods.

"Yup, it was to the point where I panicked and thought you were pregnant at some point because some of the stuff you ate is _extremely_ inedible to regular taste buds."

There's a short silence afterward, but Jaehyun later giggles at the comment, and Doyoung laughs alongside him after.

 _Yep, Johnny's project partner is my soulmate._ Jaehyun thinks as he watches the other's eyes still crinkle in laughter.

Food truly brings together the best people. _  
  
_

* * *

  
Even though Jung Jaehyun met his soulmate, he still has questions.

It's been almost three months since Jaehyun and Doyoung found each other thanks to pickles with peanut butter and leftover lemonade. Still, there are just some moments where Jaehyun asks himself, "Is the universe really sure that we're soulmates?"

And Jaehyun will be honest; the two of them's relationship dynamic is odd to multiple people- _including_ them!

Jaehyun won't lie, sometimes he feels bad for putting Doyoung through the hell that was his experimental food combinations, which surprisingly worked well with his taste buds.

Not the seven-layer diarrhea bean dip, of course, we _won't_ go into that.

But every time he brings it up to Doyoung, his soulmate laughs it off and tells him that it's okay.

"You only affected my taste buds. It's nothing serious, Jae, relax," he told a sad Jaehyun one day over a movie night date at home.

"Are you sure? I could've killed you with what I did," Jaehyun groaned, but Doyoung shook his head.

"Nah, the universe wouldn't let that happen..." Doyoung snickers, "I'm glad it didn't have the power to give me... toilet issues, though."

As Jaehyun shoves his boyfriend playfully off the couch that night, it also happens to be the moment when Jaehyun realized that Doyoung really _was_ his soulmate.

Doyoung was the perfect soulmate who continuously put up with Jaehyun's antics and shit with a smile, and there was nothing wrong with him, which made him perfect!

Jaehyun wishes he could say the same things about himself, though.

This brings him to now, ringing the doorbell to his perfect soulmate's perfect home because his soulmate said he had a surprise for Jaehyun, which was most likely going to be _perfect._

The door later opens moments later, welcoming Jaehyun with a sight of his handsome boyfriend in a black turtleneck and black plaid pants with flats to match.

Then there's Jaehyun in an old t-shirt and ripped jeans.

“Hey, Jae, come on in.” Doyoung smiles, ushering him inside.

The two soulmates had plenty of serious conversations before, including how they should take their relationship slow as well as how their dynamics would work. Jaehyun feels nothing but grateful to have someone willing to listen to him, and he's glad it's Doyoung.

"So, what's this surprise you keep teasing me about?" he asks Doyoung as he takes his shoes off.

"You'll see," Doyoung comments, shutting the door behind him. "Do you trust me?"

Jaehyun raises an eyebrow at him.

"Of course I do. What type of question is that?"

Doyoung grins. "Just checking. Close your eyes."

"Uh, alright..." Jaehyun says, and sooner or later, his vision is nothing but darkness through both his _and_ Doyoung's large hands as he's slowly guided to a particular area with Doyoung in tow. There are sounds of shuffling behind him; at one point, Doyoung lifts his hands from over Jaehyun's to open what seemed to be the sounds of a curtain but shortly returns after.

"Okay, ready?" Doyoung asks.

"Born ready," he answers.

"Open your eyes."

Doyoung helps lifts Jaehyun's hands like pulling down a veil. When he opens his eyes, he sees a candlelit dinner set up outside Doyoung's patio accompanied by the sun setting behind them. The fancy setup contrasted burgers and light yellow rectangular desserts, but it still screamed Doyoung's detail-oriented personality that Jaehyun has grown accustomed to.

"Wh-what's all this?" Jaehyun gasps quietly.

"You like it?" Doyoung chuckles and Jaehyun turns to him with a nod.

"Yes, but... why?"

His boyfriend smiles. "Well, three months and four days ago, I met you in your kitchen for the first time after witnessing the taste of pickles and peanut butter in my mouth without even eating it; and you in return tasted bitter lemonade," Doyoung explains. "So, I decided to celebrate this occasion by making you some peanut butter burgers, homemade pickled relish that I hope is okay since I struggled on that a lot, and some white wine accompanied with these lemon bar desserts."

Jaehyun doesn't know what to say.

It was perfect.

 _Doyoung_ was perfect.

Doyoung gives his soulmate a concerned look after Jaehyun is quiet for a bit too long.

"Jae, are you ok-"

“-I love you."

The confession comes off as a surprise at first to both of them at first, but with one look at his boyfriend, Jaehyun knows it's nothing but the truth.

"I love you, Doyoung," he repeats, voice full of confidence this time.

The moment he hears those three words from Jaehyun's mouth, Doyoung's shocked expression soon morphs into a warm smile.

"I love you too, Jaehyun," he responds, "Now, let's go eat, yeah?"

Jaehyun smiles back at him.

"Okay."

As he clinks his wine glass with the other, Jung Jaehyun is aware that he might not understand the concept of soulmates and taste, but there's one thing for sure that he does understand: Kim Doyoung, his soulmate.

And as Doyoung kisses Jaehyun's cheek before gesturing to eat the meal in front of the two of them, it's a sign that Doyoung understands Jaehyun too.

**Author's Note:**

> it's the way i could've been doing something cute for a soulmates au but do "let's have jae get diarrhea from his mistakes instead!"
> 
> thank you for reading!  
> feel free to follow or interact w me here:  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/caratchans) | [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/skzminchan) | [carrd](https://mazeofmemories.crd.co)
> 
> have a good day!  
> \- gia


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